Day 20 - New Wine (Hillsong Worship)
This song was released by Hillsong Worship in 2018 and came into a season of my life when change and big decisions were being faced...as for the song, I loved the melody, and how it lyrically built to the bridge. It expressed so much of what I wanted to be true as a prayer in my life, but some phrases seemed to grate on things I was challenged by and grieving at the time.
‘New’ - is such a bright word! It means fresh, it’s the opposite of old, so why do we often fear the new? I wrote recently in a social media post that I’ve learned, ‘you can’t have new beginnings, without endings’, I think this is why the new can be hard, because you’re saying goodbye to something ‘old’. It may be something comfortable, something you’re used to, something that's fitted so well...but our God is the God of the new, of transformation, of new starts, and clean lives.
Matthew 9:17 says, “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
So if we are living as devoted followers of Jesus, we cannot live the way we always have and expect to be able to carry a fresh anointing from God. New wine can only be put into new wineskins and so we must expect new seasons that will require a renewed spirit and heart or vessel for a fresh anointing and calling of God. The bridge (below) builds to such declarations that when we’ve surrendered to God, to the new, there is new power and new freedom in Him! Wow!
'Cause where there is new wine
There is new power , there is new freedom
And the kingdom is here I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today
I remember leading worship with this song when it was relatively new to us...trying so hard to push back the tears, I wanted to sing it with conviction, unlike how I’d sung it times before. I used to stop at the lines “I lay down my old flames, to carry Your new fire today”. ‘Why? Well ‘old flames’ back then meant the way things were, dreams, hopes, for me and for others that I’d had, but they were also old ways of thinking, old meaning that it wasn’t fresh for today, wasn’t burning as brightly or as strong. So these had to be laid down to carry what was coming, what was new. That day I didn’t stop at those lines and I remember not caring if tears were streaming down my face. God was doing something new in me, refining me, changing my heart for what was to come…
The process of making olive oil, which probably isn't too dissimilar to wine, comes to mind when singing the opening verse:
In the crushing In the pressing
You are making new wine
In the soil, I now surrender You are breaking new ground
The olives have to be crushed and pressed hard before any oil is released. In that season I had felt like I had been pushed and pulled (or crushed and pressed) in so many directions and but on looking back have I seen what God was producing in me, refining in me through the pressure and pain. ‘In the soil’ - in the dark place, where I believe a seed does its most work, is where we really are surrendered to God to then allow Him to break up the hard ground in our hearts, to make it fertile again for what’s coming.
So I yield to You and to Your careful hand
When I trust You I don't need to understand
Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Surrender requires trust. To yield to God should be easy when you trust Him with your life. That line ‘When I trust You I don’t need to understand’ reminds me of Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. When we chose to trust God we can wholeheartedly say that I don’t need to know the why, You Lord be my Captain.
Think it over / Meditate on:
Worship and use this song as a prayer today: https://youtu.be/1ozGKlOzEVc - examine your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas in your life that you need to yield to Him.
Are you stepping into something new? Are there new horizons ahead? Tell God how you feel and ask for His peace and ability to leave the old behind. Or do you know someone who is and is anxious about it – pray for them today.
What is the ‘new wine’ that Jesus wants to bring out of you, as you spend time in His presence - listen for His voice.
Written by Senior Pastor Charmaine